The Belt and Road Initiative is a grand idea China brought up, aimed at creating partnerships all over the world, for win-win results. But, there are misgivings about the initiative and China's role in promoting connectivity through it. 

Kong Quan, deputy director of the Committee on Foreign Affairs for the CPPCC and former Chinese ambassador to France, and who also served vital roles on China's global strategies, talks to CGTN Senior Correspondent Tian Wei about the issue.

He referenced a meeting earlier this year in Paris, in which he and his European counterparts shared the wisdom of history, as inspiration for today.

"Many people from the European Union and figures from various fields in France were invited to this year's meeting. Almost a thousand attendees. They were all excited. I told the audience that it was going to be the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and France within a week," said Kong. 

Kong quoted former French President, General Charles de Gaulle, who had faced so much opposition from Western allies during those days on the intention of diplomatic ties, "He firmly said: 'The decision of establishing diplomatic relations with China is an inevitable choice and a rational choice.' I think what he thought at that moment was, it was impossible to ignore the fact that some 400 million Chinese people had stood up. I was impressed by his strongly worded comments as he made his decision. Fast forward to the present: is there an inevitable choice and a rational choice still available for France and European countries?" 

Some say it is China's first time to put forward a global mechanism, such as the Belt and Road Initiative. Kong highlighted that the interests of the Chinese people are integrated with the interests of the vast number of developing countries. 

"China's growth is consistent with the welfare of mankind. As Mr. Deng Xiaoping mentioned before, China should make greater contributions to mankind following its development. The pursuit of the Belt and Road, proposed by President Xi Jinping, is indeed a new way to fulfill our responsibility for the common good of developing countries and other neighboring nations in this new era."